The present invention relates to a method for printing box-shaped articles with vertically disposed printing stencils, more particularly to a method for the printing of crates made of plastics material by means of the screen-printing method. The invention also relates to apparatus for carrying out such methods.
German OS No. 2 754 916 discloses a screen-printing apparatus for automatically printing articles having a rectangular cross-section at a plurality of printing stations, the vertical screen-printing method being used at all stations. With this apparatus, it is possible to print different motifs or patterns on all sides by means of a plurality of printing screens which are mounted one alongside the other, the article to be printed being turned as it is transported from printing station to printing station. Apart from the need to use a relatively expensive rotating and positioning mechanism, a relatively large amount of space is required for locating the printing stations one alongside the other, and, on the other hand, a relatively long time period is needed to print four or even more sides of each article.